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It is perfectly true that only Lot and his daughters were spared from the destruction of Sodom and Gommorah. Lot's wife perished, because she "glanced back", perhaps yearning for the comforts of the old, familiar life, and for that yearning, she was turned into a "pillar of salt". We can see an analogous sentiment regarding "looking back" in the verse (Luke 9:62) "He who puts his hand to the plow and then looks back is not worthy of the Kingdom." And yet later, in the wilderness, we see Lot drunken with wine, and impregnating both his daughters. So Lot himself, though spared, was not necessarily the most righteous of men.
Such total destruction of Sodom fuels our notion that homosexuality is more heinous than heterosexual sins, or theft, or murder, or even sins which many people forget about such as pride, sloth, envy, and gossiping, backbiting. But people OFTEN FORGET about the prior intercession of Abraham with God. It is ESSENTIAL for us to remember this episode of Abraham's intercession on behalf of Sodom and to learn several fundamental principles from it. First of all, it is very likely that the reputation of Sodom's sin had spread far and wide (just as everyone knows about a city such as New York City or Las Vegas), so Abraham surely was not ignorant of the nature of the people on whose behalf he interceded. God initially agrees to spare the entire city if only FIFTY righteous men are found. Notice very carefully that God only asks that they be RIGHTEOUS, and makes no mention of their religious persuasion and denomination, or that they be Jewish. Indeed, there WAS no Judaism in Abraham's time, since it was before the time of Moses and the Laws. We all know that Abraham succeeds in reducing the requirement from fifty righteous men to ten righteous men. Certainly, had TEN RIGHTEOUS men actually been found, and had the cities of Sodom and Gommorah been spared, the gay life style would not have disappeared from those cities. This indicates that there are circumstances under which God is willing to have compassion towards homosexuals. Of course, God is portrayed as "the only knower of hearts" in the Book of Samuel, so one might say that God ALREADY KNEW that there were not TEN righteous men to be found, and thus God was "stacking the deck" so to speak and begging the question. Or was he? For if God were resting upon the knowledge that there are not even ten righteous men in Sodom, then why would he initially require fifty, and why would he hesitate to agree to ten. I personally like to think that God is not into "cheap tricks" and stacking the deck. For as we read in Ezekiel:
Ezekiel 3:20 Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
Ezekiel 18:21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.
We see that God is making allowance for the possibility that some people might REPENT between the time of Abraham's intercession and the time of the Judgment concerning Sodom's destruction.
But why would God allow a city of immorality like Sodom to be PRESERVED if as many as 10 righteous men be found, but destroy the city if only ONE righteous man might be found? These are difficult questions to answer, but perhaps wherever there is a COMMUNITY or CONGREGATION of RIGHTEOUS, however small, THEN there is hope that others will repent and reform through the power of example and fellowship and association with the righteous few.
Of course, God in his FOREKNOWLEDGE, from God's atemporal vantage point of the pre-Eternal "Now", can see as present the outcome of each person's freewill decisions. Yet that foreknowledge in no way robs the individual of his free will choice at the moment he makes it. Yet obviously, God also must have foreknown that ten men would NOT repent and become righteous. But still, God left open the possibility that it might happen, indicating the POTENCY of man's free will choice and cooperation with the Divine Will, and God's reluctance to suggest in scripture any sort of election or predestination which would rob individuals of the potency of their choice.
Another valuable lesson from the story of Abraham's intercession on behalf of Sodom is that "THE WORLD IS SUSTAINED FROM MOMENT TO MOMENT for the sake of the righteous few." One day, a woman asked me with some concern what good work she might do to help the world. I pointed out to her, that on the basis of this story of Sodom, she may possibly PRESERVE THE VERY WORLD by her own personal sanctity and devotion.
Regarding the notion of "not looking back" as Lot's wife did, we may look at the passage where Elijah Recruits Elisha:
(1 Kings 19:19-21)
19 Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with 12 pairs of oxen; he was near the twelfth pair. Elijah passed by him and threw his robe over him. 20 He left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother goodbye, then I will follow you.” Elijah said to him, “Go back! Indeed, what have I done to you?” 21 Elisha went back and took his pair of oxen and slaughtered them. He cooked the meat over a fire that he made by burning the harness and yoke. He gave the people meat and they ate. Then he got up and followed Elijah and became his assistant.
From the description we are given of Elisha, he is a man of real character. When singled out by Elijah, he goes to his home and announces his calling and departure. He then returns to offer a sacrifice, using the oxen he had been plowing with—an expensive meal, indeed. And he burns the yoke and the harness to cook as fuel for the sacrificial fire. It is as though he had said, “I’ve made this decision to follow God, and Elijah, as a prophet, and I have no intention of turning back.” Today we would say, Elisha burned his bridges.
The world is transformed with words, one person at a time.
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